It's staying up late or going to bed early, no cooking, no cleaning, no chores- just fun!

It's creative, it's inspiring, it's relaxing.

It's just the place for you!

Whether your come alone or come with friends, Sew South is a great weekend get-away. And as much as it is about the sewing (for which it is a lot) it's about the people, the connections and the friendships made.

50 friendly faces, sewing together for three days - it's full of energy, full of creativity, full of fun.

Important Notes:*Each attendee must bring their own sewing machine.

*Dinners are on your own (There are lots of restaurants in the area.)

*Hotel and Transportation are NOT included in your ticket price.

*A block of hotel rooms will be offered for Sew South attendees at a special group rate of $145 + tax. The rate is the same for double or single occupancy of a two room suite. All hotel rooms have a bedroom and a living room and include a refrigerator and microwave. Three people can share a room as each suite has a pull-out queen sofa bed. The cost for 3 people per room is $160. There is a small block of rooms reserved so make your reservation early.

*Sharing a room is a great way to save $ and have fun at the same time! If you are coming solo, don’t worry. Folks often find roommates via our Sew South flickr group.

The Workshops:

With 50 people of all levels, taking the same class, Sew South workshops are all about making something for yourself. Sew South workshops give you the opportunity to make something fun, something pretty, something for you.

I’m really excited that one of the Sew South classes will be taught by the wonderful and talented Amy Gibson of Stitchery Dickory Dock. Amy, a new author, seasoned quilter, Craftsy designer and all-around fabulous person will be teaching our Quilting Workshop!

The other Sew South class will be led by the super sweet and fun Valerie Luberecki and myself. We're super excited about leading the group in making super cute ruffled aprons. We have a vision friends and it's going to be so fun!

There will be group seating this year in tables of 4. The new layout will allow for more conversation, fun games at the tables and a friendly competition or two.

We do several swaps at Sew South too - all of which are optional but all are a lot of fun!

You asked and I deliver! Sew South folks wanted more free sewing time to work on their own projects so I've built in lots of that this year. Take a look at the sample schedule at www.sewsouthretreat.com to get an idea of what the weekend will look like.

Sew South Tickets:

Tickets are $350.

Tickets are nonrefundable but are transferable up until April 1, 2015.

If you need to sell your ticket you can let me know and I'll put you in touch with the first person on the waiting list.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Sew South 2015 is coming your way this Spring!

Who's ready for Sew South 2015? I know I am! I'm really excited to be bringing you the Sew South Retreat for the third year and this year promises to be the best one yet!

Sew South 2015 is all about you!
It's a weekend to take time out from your busy life to do something special for yourself- sew, have fun and relax!

Come spend Thursday - Sunday at Sew South and treat yourself a getaway weekend full of fun. We'll have workshops, prizes, lots of socializing and plenty of free sewing time.

Sew South 2015 will be at the Embassy Suites hotel in Concord, NC, just outside of Charlotte. This lovely resort hotel offers spacious guest room suites, an on-site spa, complimentary hot made-to-order breakfast as well as afternoon cocktails and snacks. A Starbucks cafe is located in the lobby and Concord Mills Mall (tons of outlet shopping) is just down the street. We're Sew Creative quilt shop is minutes away as well!

What to expect:
What makes Sew South so special are the relationships that are made during the weekend. It truly is a place to relax and have fun, to be creative together and to make friends. As much as it is about the sewing, it really is about the people!

Sew South is limited to 50 spaces! Why? Well, that small number allows for folks to really get to know each other, to talk to their neighbors, to make meaningful connections and to make friends. We sew together, take the workshops together, laugh together, all in one big room. It's a lot of fun.

During the weekend we'll be sewing in a spacious ballroom, having fun with games and challenges with friends new and old as well as completing two engaging and fun sewing workshops.

You'll also have plenty of open sewing time so you can bring the projects you want to work on during the weekend.

There will also be free time built into the afternoons so if you want to take advantage of the on-site spa, you can! Feel like shopping the outlets or a fun antique mall? You can do that too! Want to hunker down and finish a quilt top? You'll have time for that as well! It really is a weekend built for YOU!

*A block of hotel rooms will be offered for Sew South attendees at a special group rate of $145 + tax. The rate is the same for double or single occupancy of a two room suite. All hotel rooms have a bedroom and a living room and include a refrigerator and microwave.

*Sharing a room is a great way to save $ and have fun at the same time! If you are coming solo, don't worry. Folks often find roommates via our Sew South flickr group.

The Workshops:

With 50 people of all levels, taking the same class, Sew South workshops are all about making something for yourself. Giving yourself the gift of time to finish a project or freshen up on a skill or technique. Sew South workshops give you the opportunity to make something fun, something pretty, something for you.

I'm really excited that one of the Sew South classes will be taught by the wonderful and talented Amy Gibson of Stitchery Dickory Dock. Amy, a new author, seasoned quilter, Craftsy designer and all-around fabulous person will be teaching our Quilting Workshop!

The other Sew South class is still under construction but I'll be sharing details soon.

Ticket Sales

Tickets are $350.
Tickets are nonrefundable but are transferable up until April 1, 2015. I will be happy to put you in touch with folks on the waiting list if you need to sell your ticket.

Tickets go on sale October 8 at 8:00 PM EST.

Tickets will be sold at www.sewsouthretreat.com.

Tickets are sold one or two at a time.

Sew South!

Sew South is all about YOU! Taking time for yourself, being creative, fostering friendships, having fun.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

It's the time of year when I get super excited about Sew South as I roll into planning the 2015 retreat.

Be on the lookout (and sign up to get the Sew South newsletter on the sidebar) for updates soon! Tickets will go on sale early fall.

Before we move forward, let's look back and how great Sew South 2014 was!

SEW SOUTH 2014

Really, as much as Sew South is about sewing (and we sew A LOT) it's about the relationships and friendships that are made.
It's a gathering of women, passionate about sewing, eager to make friends and connect with others, and taking time out to do something fun and special for themselves. It's chatting late into the evening, hugs for friends new and old, catching up and bonding with everyone over fabric, playlists, and projects.
It started out with cocktails on Thursday night- lots of chatter and some serious swag from the super generous Sew South Sponsors!
There was tons of fabulous Sew South swag from the generous sponsors!

After dinner we changed into pjs and comfy clothes for late night open sewing. Machines were zipping along while friends were made, handmade bags were ogled (some serious eye candy!) and everyone got settled for a great weekend ahead.
Friday we jumped right in and spent the morning learning hand embroidery from the ever- inspiring, super-kind and creative Alison Glass. Alison created a hand-embroidered needle book project exclusively for Sew South and everyone LOVED this class.
Alison's creativity manifests itself beautifully in her designs, her fabrics and her patterns. She graciously shared her personal story, her inspirations and her creative process with us in this class and during her talk on Saturday night.
Sew Lux fabrics provided the perle cotton thread cards in a rainbow of stunning colors (you can pick up similar thread cards in her shop) and it was so fun seeing how everyone used those colors in different ways as their samplers progressed. I loved that hand embroidery is portable, lending itself so well to chatting and sewing with friends in groups around the room.
I think most people left Sew South with a new embroidery addiction! (PS: Those white frames you see are Q-Snap frames and they ROCK! I highly recommend them because they're so comfortable to hold and don't put any stress on your fabric.)
Friday morning we also learned tips on blogging and social media from the talented Christen Barber of Love By Hand. Christen, a professional online marketing guru, shared blogging tips and tricks and gave us actionable steps we can use to take our blogging and social media to the next level. Her presentation was full of great information and easy-t0-follow steps which we all appreciated.
After lunch on Friday we were inspired in a whole new way by Kati Spencer from The Blue Chair. Kati's class and presentation on Improv Quilting was nothing short of eye-opening and liberating. The most powerful lesson I walked away with was that improv can yield beautiful results when embracing limitations and including thoughtful planning during the process. It's true- improv doesn't have to be a hot mess.
One look at Kati's amazing quilts and you'll agree with me. She was quite inspiring to us all.
Before long, improv pieces had sprung up around the room, and I for one successfully tackled waves. Kati made the process so easy to understand, and I was thrilled with my result. I can't wait to explore this technique further.
Saturday we jumped right in and got to work on two fun projects. I see myself making lots of more of both of these in the future. Kelly Bowser of Kelby Sews led the Boxy Pouch class.
Kelly has made tons of stylish boxy pouches and her Instagram feed is regularly stocked with images of her pretty bags. These were really fun, and I've been itching to make a boxy bag for just about forever. She ever so kindly shared her tutorial on her site (kelbysews.com) this week so you can make one too!
We used Pellon's Shape Flex for the interfacing but I'm going to give Decor Bond a shot on my next one to add more structure.
After lunch Heather Valentine of The Sewing Loft led us in the making of a scrappy bucket. What I loved most about this project was the variety of finished buckets. Everyone's had a unique style despite being the same pattern, and I loved seeing all of them come together.
Heather is known for her sewing tips and tricks along with her creative use of scraps which inspired this new pattern and project for Sew South. I made the large bucket, dug into my favorite, extra special scraps and used the ticker tape technique to craft my outer fabric.
My bucket now sits on my sewing table and is the perfect place to stash my WIPs. Plus I love getting to see those pretty little pieces put to good use.

So what else goes on at Sew South? Good food and good friends. Becoming buddies with the folks sitting next to you. Getting inspired by all the projects, bags, fabrics and talent all around the room.
Dinners out with friends that love to talk about their families, where they're from (all across the country), their passions and of course, sewing. Sharing meals in the sunshine. Door prizes and secret sister swaps.
Spending time working on projects and sewing just for the fun of it. Taking a break from the daily routine of mom/wife/career/obligations and focusing on having fun, relaxing, creating and friendships.
Traveling handmade and swooning over the fabulous bags everyone brought.
Because by the time Sunday rolls around, the friends you've made and the relationships that've grown are what it's all about. And now, when you see a pic on Instagram or read a blog post of a Sew South friend, you've got a personal connection to them and it makes the online world seem a little smaller, a little closer and a whole lot more meaningful.
I was feeling very blessed on Sunday when I was wrapping up the weekend and sharing how much it meant to me that everyone there had chosen to share their vacation time with me at Sew South. Then my mind was blown when the tables were turned and my dear friend Valerie, along with everyone's help, surprised me in the most magnificent way.
You see they all made me a quilt.
And no one has ever made ME a quilt before.
They took their time and creative talents and made beautiful star blocks, in my favorite colors and sent them to Valerie who ever so graciously sewed them together into a fabulous, amazing, wonderful quilt.
Then she showed me the BACK!

It's true- I did the ugly cry. Full on big tears and in total shock at what they had lovingly made just for me. The signature blocks at the bottom are just as special as the rest because I will always treasure this quilt and the friends that helped make it for me.
I've touched every fabric, every block and every name on that quilt as I've snuggled under it since that magical weekend. It's a tangible reminder of the blessings I have in each of these friends, and the gift that Sew South is to me. Because as much as Sew South means to other people, it means just as much to me.

I love that Sew South brings us together- connects friends in a truly meaningful way, and it's my hope that it will help those friendships grow. I've seen it happen within the past year and it's just the BEST.
The weekend went by in a flash. I was definitely drunk on fun, and it took me 3 days to recover from my #sewsouthhangover.
I can't wait to do it all again!
To see a ton of pics from Sew South, check out #sewsouth on Instagram. Then check out the video recap below.